Maggie Smith Has Never Seen ‘Downton Abbey’

Dame Maggie Smith was on The Graham Norton Show last week, and she dropped a bomb: she’s never seen an episode of Downton Abbey, on which she starred as the prickly Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham for six years.

The show, which recently wrapped its final season in England last week (it’ll make its way to American TV in January), has become an international phenomenon in the last decade — but that doesn’t mean its biggest star (Smith’s long film career has earned her an Oscar and international recognition for her work in the Harry Potter franchise) has watched it. When asked if she’s seen the show, Smith coyly smiled and shook her head, then quipped, “I’ve got the box set.”

It’s not the only time in the interview that Smith earned some laughs from the audience (and the show’s host). When Norton asked, “So are you glad that Downton‘s over,” Smith didn’t miss a beat. “Oh, yeah,” she said, sparking awwws from the audience. “By the time we ended,” Smith said, “she must have been 110.”